July 4th and Maybe Extended Weekend Activities

[ChoatieMom]

The Army did not allow our son to leave work early yesterday as he had previously arranged , so they did not pull in to the cabin until 3:30–AM!, but my mom-ears were attuned, so I got that wonderful first hug seconds after I heard those lower-level doors open. We won’t see them until they emerge around noon or so, but that doesn’t matter. We’re all together (including my mom), so let the fun begin!

[abasket]

My crew arrives today. Today should be a relaxing day - pool time, keep cool inside time, might go to a farmer’s market in the evening and then see if we can see some fireworks tonight in our yard. Today I’ll make a caprese like salad with greens, tomatoes, red onion, fresh mozzarella, nectarines, basil.

Tomorrow we will do a cook out. Menu to be determined.

Sunday I’m having my brother and his family down from Michigan. I’m gonna wing it with food!

[FallGirl]

Happy 4th!

Thanks for the food suggestions. The other couple we are planning to meet up with are bringing a pasta salad, some fruit and of course wine. I think we are going to bring some shrimp cocktail (H’s idea) some cheese and crackers and a dessert like brownies or cookies.

Now if it would only not rain…

[Colorado_mom]

We often make mushroom appetizers (with large sliced mushrooms) similar to this recipe Garlic Mushrooms - Cafe Delites

If there are any left, I serve them as a side dish at dinner. It works particularly well if we are serving steak and/or baked potatoes.

[thumper1]

Weather here is iffy…but we will have a nice picnic supper anyway!

[garland]

My sister joined us for fireworks off the beach yesterday, but H and I will mostly be on our own for the weekend–which is fine–garden dinners, walk on the beach, swimming, probably some kayaking and biking. Looks like a beautiful weekend. D invited us for BBQ if we were in town, but we had no advance notice (normal operation procedures, honestly) so we won’t make it there. It’s all good though–out to catch some rays!

[Marilyn]

Son texted that he is going to watch the naturalization ceremony at Seattle Center. Very apropos!

[Colorado_mom]

Rode to trail around local our lake trail (3.5 miles around, almost half of it easily accessible park space). LOVED the festive feel of it. Lots of sun tarps, chairs, families and friends picnicing together. And soooo many paddle boards and kayaks. It’s a bit harder to maneuver the trail when crowded, but the vibe is uplifting.

[showmom858]

Pacific Beach today.

[arisamp]

Spent a couple of hours at the town common on Wednesday evening. Beautiful evening to be out, listening to the community band and watching the flag raised. Worked in the garden yesterday and then had friends over for a bbq in the evening. Again, weather was wonderful and we spent a few hours on the deck.

[seal16]

We did not have any festivities or parades here. I guess it’s not a California tradition but illegal fireworks were up well after midnight. We took our GD and wanted to find any type of fun celebrations but we’re not able to.

[stradmom]

Watched local fireworks, but mostly helping D with a local move. Grateful that she has some good friends who are supporting her through this stressful time.

I hate that putting out a flag seems to have an implied meaning other than being an American.

[FallGirl]

No rain yesterday, but our concert watching plans with friends were a bust. Friend called Friday evening to let us know the concert had been cancelled. We agreed to still go and enjoy a picnic together. She called back yesterday morning, her H who thought he had a cold was feeling worse and had just tested positive for Covid.

Such is life…

[momofboiler1]

Was helping my D move into her new apartment for her final ELDP rotation all week. Got back on the 5th. Went to a ball game yesterday and taking the kayak out on the lake today. Thankfully H was home with the dog during the 4th. He said the fireworks were very loud this year. D and I watched some fireworks from her balcony but mostly I was too exhausted to do anything but sleep Thursday night.

[4kids4us]

I had to work Friday and Saturday so drove down to the beach today to meet my husband and one son (other son, and the two girlfriends left this morning). D19 is coming tonight after work, Dh, S21 and I went to Assateague today. On the way back to the house, a couple of ponies were in the road. Dh didnt realize I was going to take photos so didn’t stop but I managed to get a few quick photos as he drove past (we see them every year so not a novelty). You can see a little pony and a couple of others if you look closely in the background.

S23 and his girlfriend “left early” meaning they didnt spend day at beach. Normally traffic is bad late afternoon/dinner time on weekends but I guess everyone else decided to leave late morning like they did. A normally two hr drive took four hours! Then his poor girlfriend had another four hours to go (she lives near Pittsburgh). S23 felt so bad for not leaving early this morning when S21’s girlfriend left (she hit zero traffic).

[MaineLonghorn]

We had a wonderful time at our cabin. We visited with one friend whose camp is near ours. On July 5, we went to the lake and hung out most of the day. We did not see a single other person. It blows me away that there are still places like this that are almost untouched. It’s open to the public but not many people know about it. The tourists all stick to the coast, thank goodness.

I put the Merlin app on my phone and it identified the call of a merlin, coincidentally. It’s a type of falcon. Later we heard it again. Looking up, we saw it chasing a beautiful bald eagle.

[prezbucky]

Kind of a postscript gripe:

Yesterday after returning from work, I was out on the back porch when a neighbor decided to set off an extremely loud rocket of some sort. It was a very loud and startling BOOM – scared the stuffing out of me.

It frightened my dog and nearby sparrows too.

Good job, neighbor – you’re only over a week late with that.